Today we participate in an unusual event.

The beginning of an orderly transition of government without guns, tanks or
civil war.

Not every country can say that.

Please vote and be thankful for the privilege.

Dimitri

In article >,
Dave Smith > wrote:

> Dimitri wrote:
> > Today we participate in an unusual event.

> I realize that some of your countrymen are under the impression that the
> US is the only country that has free elections, but I have to wonder why
> voting is such a hassle there. There have been some posts here and other
> groups about the hassles involved, like long waits, faulty equipment,
> people being struck off the lists etc. I have never had any problems
> voting, and never missed an election. My polling station has never been
> more than a 5 minute drive from home and I have never had to wait more
> than a few minutes from the time I get there until I get my ballot.

It's like everything else. If somebody has a hassle, they complain
about it. If they don't have a hassle, nobody hears about it. I've
never had a hassle. Now that I'm retired, I'll go in mid-morning when
the lines are the shortest. I'll give you a report. Should be in the
next hour.

--
Dan Abel
Petaluma, California USA

Dimitri wrote:
> Today we participate in an unusual event.
>
> The beginning of an orderly transition of government without guns, tanks or
> civil war.
>
> Not every country can say that.
>
> Please vote and be thankful for the privilege.
>
> Dimitri

i'm going to vote in about 10 minutes.

Dimitri wrote:
> Today we participate in an unusual event.
>
> The beginning of an orderly transition of government without guns, tanks
> or civil war.
>
> Not every country can say that.
>
> Please vote and be thankful for the privilege.
>
> Dimitri

Just did on my way home for lunch.

In article >,
"Dimitri" > wrote:

> Today we participate in an unusual event.
>
> The beginning of an orderly transition of government without guns, tanks or
> civil war.
>
> Not every country can say that.
>
> Please vote and be thankful for the privilege.

Well said. I agree.

Dimitri wrote:
> Today we participate in an unusual event.
>
> The beginning of an orderly transition of government without [the use of] guns, tanks
> or civil war.
>
> Not every country can say that.
>
> Please vote and be thankful for the privilege.
>
> Dimitri


I voted at about 8:30 this morning. The line was short. I thought about
wearing my "Ron Paul 2008" button to cause just a little trouble but
decided against it.

The lady at the entrance table where they check the voting registration
and give you your ballot said it'd been really busy a half-hour earlier.
When I voted, the counter on the voting machine went from 8 to 9; not
sure what that means with regard to the previous "really busy" statement.

The lady at the exit gave me my "I Voted" sticker, and on the way to
work I stopped at Starbucks wearing the sticker for my free cuppa
coffee. The Starbucks girl said they'd given out a lot of cups already.

--
Bob

Dimitri wrote:
> Today we participate in an unusual event.
>
> The beginning of an orderly transition of government without guns, tanks
> or civil war.
>
> Not every country can say that.
>
> Please vote and be thankful for the privilege.

I realize that some of your countrymen are under the impression that the
US is the only country that has free elections, but I have to wonder why
voting is such a hassle there. There have been some posts here and other
groups about the hassles involved, like long waits, faulty equipment,
people being struck off the lists etc. I have never had any problems
voting, and never missed an election. My polling station has never been
more than a 5 minute drive from home and I have never had to wait more
than a few minutes from the time I get there until I get my ballot.

"Michael \"Dog3\"" > wrote in
2:

> with some shaved red onion

You gotta shave the onions down there? Up here we don't let them get that
old.

--

The beet goes on -Alan

"Dave Smith" > wrote in message
...
> Dimitri wrote:
>> Today we participate in an unusual event.
>>
>> The beginning of an orderly transition of government without guns, tanks
>> or civil war.
>>
>> Not every country can say that.
>>
>> Please vote and be thankful for the privilege.
>
> I realize that some of your countrymen are under the impression that the
> US is the only country that has free elections, but I have to wonder why
> voting is such a hassle there. There have been some posts here and other
> groups about the hassles involved, like long waits, faulty equipment,
> people being struck off the lists etc. I have never had any problems
> voting, and never missed an election. My polling station has never been
> more than a 5 minute drive from home and I have never had to wait more
> than a few minutes from the time I get there until I get my ballot.
>

We have 50 independent voting "systems" and within many of those we have
dozens of other independent systems. This makes a mess of the whole thing.
There is no 1 standard. Plus voting is run by volunteers who are often
poorly trained. And then you have highly partisan individuals in charge who
have many ways of throwing monkey wrenches into the system to make voting
very hard or impossible for some. Such as having 5 voting machines in a
precinct of 80 thousand voters in minority neighborhoods but 20 machines in
precincts of 4 thousand mostly affluent white voters. This is going on
right now. The way to throw an election is not to register Mickey Mouse it
is to simply prevent a person from voting somehow or by simply not counting
their vote.

We have a huge mess here in this country and it is considered the highest of
unpatriotic rumor mongering to even suggest there is something wrong with
it. So that is why it gets worse every time.

Paul

Michael "Dog3" wrote:

> Been there, done it and in an hour I'm on my way to my appointed
> office help people who can't get out of the house, find rides to the
> voting centers. I'll also be transporting folks.

Outstanding. There were quite a few very elderly people
at the voting site today, having a very hard time getting
around. One lady was in a chair with a nice mark on her
forehead, I take it she took a tumble. There was another
woman in a chair being helped.

It's very nice that people like you help them out. Just don't
drop them.

nancy

George wrote:
> Dimitri wrote:
> > Today we participate in an unusual event.
> >
> > The beginning of an orderly transition of government without guns, tanks
> > or civil war.
> >
> > Not every country can say that.
> >
> > Please vote and be thankful for the privilege.
> >
> > Dimitri
>
> Just did on my way home for lunch.

i just got back from my local polling place, "the local church of
what's happenin' now," there were 3 precincts at the church, and there
appeared to be an air of expectation and joy among the poll workers.
the young man who handed me my ballot, (in his 20's) asked if "i knew
how the ballot worked," and i said "since before you were born," thank
you.

there were two young women taking pictures of themselves & the sign
outside that said polling place in 4 languages, i guess it was their
first time voting.

harriet & critters in drizzly azusa (faddy caddy is napping in her
basket & j j is napping on his towels in front of the closet.)

Michael "Dog3" wrote:
> "Dimitri" >
> : in rec.food.cooking
>
>> Today we participate in an unusual event.
>>
>> The beginning of an orderly transition of government without guns,
>> tanks or civil war.
>>
>> Not every country can say that.
>>
>> Please vote and be thankful for the privilege.
>
> Been there, done it and in an hour I'm on my way to my appointed office
> help people who can't get out of the house, find rides to the voting
> centers. I'll also be transporting folks.
>
> I need some lunch first. I'm thinking a big thick slice of kosher bologna
> on toast with some shaved red onion and some mustard.
>
> Michael
>
>

Why not just make sure they got absentee ballots?

In article
>,
Dan Abel > wrote:

> In article >,
> Dave Smith > wrote:
>
> > Dimitri wrote:
> > > Today we participate in an unusual event.
>
> > I realize that some of your countrymen are under the impression that the
> > US is the only country that has free elections, but I have to wonder why
> > voting is such a hassle there. There have been some posts here and other
> > groups about the hassles involved, like long waits, faulty equipment,
> > people being struck off the lists etc. I have never had any problems
> > voting, and never missed an election. My polling station has never been
> > more than a 5 minute drive from home and I have never had to wait more
> > than a few minutes from the time I get there until I get my ballot.
>
> It's like everything else. If somebody has a hassle, they complain
> about it. If they don't have a hassle, nobody hears about it. I've
> never had a hassle. Now that I'm retired, I'll go in mid-morning when
> the lines are the shortest. I'll give you a report. Should be in the
> next hour.

I left the house (walking, it's just as fast as driving) at 9:58, got to
the polling place at 10:02, found a couple of lines (5 minutes earlier
and I would have been the only voter there) and was out by 10:12. At
10:16 I was home again.

--
Dan Abel
Petaluma, California USA

On Nov 4, 11:55*am, Dave Smith > wrote:

> I realize that some of your countrymen are under the impression that the
> US is the only country that has free elections, but I have to wonder why
> voting is such a hassle there. There have been some posts here and other
> groups about the hassles involved, like long waits, faulty equipment,
> people being struck off the lists etc. I have never had any problems
> voting, and never missed an election. My polling station has never been
> more than a 5 minute drive from home and I have never had to wait more
> than a few minutes from the time I get there until I get my ballot.

It depends on where you live. My polling place (less than a 5-minute
drive
from home) was very crowded at 7 am with people trying to vote before
going to work, so I drove on by. I went back at about 11 am and went
right in. It would be crazy to set up to allow 500 people to vote at
once
if that capacity were only needed from 7 am to 8 am (and again from 5
pm
to 6 pm).

As another poster pointed out, a lot depends on the affluence of your
neighborhood.
The running of elections is handled at the local level, which makes
sense when
you consider that there are many more local elections than national
ones. However,
that's a disadvantage in that the local government's budget might be
stretched quite
thin.

As for voters being struck from lists... Yes, that's a problem. It
can be used as
a political weapon. Still, people move away or die, and often the
local clerk doesn't
find out about it. Some pruning of the list must take place from time
to time, and
there is a way to vote even if you have wrongly been removed from the
list. Ignorance
is a terrible problem; people are much more interested in the details
of the hot new
tv show rather than their rights and responsibilities as voters.
There isn't much the
government can do about that.

Cindy Hamilton

zxcvbob wrote:
>
> Dimitri wrote:
>> Today we participate in an unusual event.
>>
>> The beginning of an orderly transition of government without [the use
>> of] guns, tanks or civil war.
>>
>> Not every country can say that.
>>
>> Please vote and be thankful for the privilege.
>>
>> Dimitri
>
>
> I voted at about 8:30 this morning. The line was short. I thought about
> wearing my "Ron Paul 2008" button to cause just a little trouble but
> decided against it.
>
> The lady at the entrance table where they check the voting registration
> and give you your ballot said it'd been really busy a half-hour earlier.
> When I voted, the counter on the voting machine went from 8 to 9; not
> sure what that means with regard to the previous "really busy" statement.
>
> The lady at the exit gave me my "I Voted" sticker, and on the way to
> work I stopped at Starbucks wearing the sticker for my free cuppa
> coffee. The Starbucks girl said they'd given out a lot of cups already.
>
I went to my usual polling place at 0620 this morning. Been voting there
for twenty years. This was the first time - EVER - that I had to stand
in line. Generally walk in, get verified as being the proper person at
the proper place, cast my vote, go home. This morning I waited for
twenty minutes to vote and the line never got smaller. Wife went there
at 0730, stood in line about the same amount of time, said the line
never got smaller. I just drove by there at 1115 and the parking lot was
full and I could see people standing in line outside the building.

I think Louisiana is on its way to a record turnout for a national election.

Dave Smith wrote:
> Dimitri wrote:
>> Today we participate in an unusual event.
>>
>> The beginning of an orderly transition of government without guns,
>> tanks or civil war.
>>
>> Not every country can say that.
>>
>> Please vote and be thankful for the privilege.
>
> I realize that some of your countrymen are under the impression that the
> US is the only country that has free elections, but I have to wonder why
> voting is such a hassle there. There have been some posts here and other
> groups about the hassles involved, like long waits, faulty equipment,
> people being struck off the lists etc. I have never had any problems
> voting, and never missed an election. My polling station has never been
> more than a 5 minute drive from home and I have never had to wait more
> than a few minutes from the time I get there until I get my ballot.
>
We have a lot of small voting precincts here in the states too Dave. <VBG>

Dave Smith said...

> Dimitri wrote:
>> Today we participate in an unusual event.
>>
>> The beginning of an orderly transition of government without guns, tanks
>> or civil war.
>>
>> Not every country can say that.
>>
>> Please vote and be thankful for the privilege.
>
> I realize that some of your countrymen are under the impression that the
> US is the only country that has free elections, but I have to wonder why
> voting is such a hassle there. There have been some posts here and other
> groups about the hassles involved, like long waits, faulty equipment,
> people being struck off the lists etc. I have never had any problems
> voting, and never missed an election. My polling station has never been
> more than a 5 minute drive from home and I have never had to wait more
> than a few minutes from the time I get there until I get my ballot.


My polling station got it so wrong. This year, although they had 3 voting
booths there was only one person checking voter registrations, two others
as election witness/observers and one other to point you to a voting booth
and activate it. They might as well just've had one booth.

Andy

Dave Smith > wrote:

>I realize that some of your countrymen are under the impression that the
>US is the only country that has free elections, but I have to wonder why
>voting is such a hassle there. There have been some posts here and other
>groups about the hassles involved, like long waits, faulty equipment,
>people being struck off the lists etc. I have never had any problems
>voting, and never missed an election.

In my opinion the answer to your question is that Americans
tend to be a distrusting lot, and are constantly questioning whether
their local election officials (not to mention national political
parties) are acting fairly. The reaction to this is an
increase in process -- changes to election methods, legal
challenges, and whatnot -- all adding up to a continual chaos
surrounding voting. This chaos, in turn, breeds more opportunity
for errors and fraud.

As an example, one of the measures on our local ballot here
is only on the ballot this time because the last time it was
voted on, Diebold wiped out all the votes and they couldn't be
re-counted. And Diebold was only in there as a ill-conceived
response to the panic of the 2000 elections. Basically you have
an alternating chain reaction of errors followed by procedural
revisions followed by more errors, accompanied of course by growing
public distrust.

Steve

On Nov 4, 8:53*am, "Michael \"Dog3\"" > wrote:
> "Dimitri" @nl pi068.nbdc.sbc.com:in rec.food.cooking
>
> > Today we participate in an unusual event.
>
> > The beginning of an orderly transition of government without guns,
> > tanks or civil war.
>
> > Not every country can say that.
>
> > Please vote and be thankful for the privilege.
>
> Been there, done it and in an hour I'm on my way to my appointed office
> help people who can't get out of the house, find rides to the voting
> centers. I'll also be transporting folks.
>
> I need some lunch first. *I'm thinking a big thick slice of kosher bologna
> on toast with some shaved red onion and some mustard.
>
> Michael
>
> --
> "Don't you always feel bad when they take away one of the spoons? It's like
> you ordered wrong."
> * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ~David Hyde Pierce
>
> Find me at: - michael at lonergan dot us dot com

Thank you for taking them to vote- a good American!

Steve Pope wrote:
> In my opinion the answer to your question is that Americans
> tend to be a distrusting lot, and are constantly questioning whether
> their local election officials (not to mention national political
> parties) are acting fairly.


For an inspirational Election Day read, check out the "Battle of Athens
(1946)" using your favorite search engine.

Bob

George Shirley wrote:
> Dave Smith wrote:
>> Dimitri wrote:
>>> Today we participate in an unusual event.
>>>
>>> The beginning of an orderly transition of government without guns,
>>> tanks or civil war.
>>>
>>> Not every country can say that.
>>>
>>> Please vote and be thankful for the privilege.
>>
>> I realize that some of your countrymen are under the impression that
>> the US is the only country that has free elections, but I have to
>> wonder why voting is such a hassle there. There have been some posts
>> here and other groups about the hassles involved, like long waits,
>> faulty equipment, people being struck off the lists etc. I have never
>> had any problems voting, and never missed an election. My polling
>> station has never been more than a 5 minute drive from home and I have
>> never had to wait more than a few minutes from the time I get there
>> until I get my ballot.
>>
> We have a lot of small voting precincts here in the states too Dave. <VBG>

Like mine, our ward votes in the basketball court of the community
center. The other two wards vote in the council chamber of the municipal
building. My guess is there are 600 possible voters in my ward. They set
up two of the Fisher Price machines so usually the lines are short...

Steve Pope wrote:
> Dave Smith > wrote:
>
>> I realize that some of your countrymen are under the impression that the
>> US is the only country that has free elections, but I have to wonder why
>> voting is such a hassle there. There have been some posts here and other
>> groups about the hassles involved, like long waits, faulty equipment,
>> people being struck off the lists etc. I have never had any problems
>> voting, and never missed an election.
>
> In my opinion the answer to your question is that Americans
> tend to be a distrusting lot, and are constantly questioning whether
> their local election officials (not to mention national political
> parties) are acting fairly. The reaction to this is an
> increase in process -- changes to election methods, legal
> challenges, and whatnot -- all adding up to a continual chaos
> surrounding voting. This chaos, in turn, breeds more opportunity
> for errors and fraud.
>
> As an example, one of the measures on our local ballot here
> is only on the ballot this time because the last time it was
> voted on, Diebold wiped out all the votes and they couldn't be
> re-counted. And Diebold was only in there as a ill-conceived
> response to the panic of the 2000 elections. Basically you have
> an alternating chain reaction of errors followed by procedural
> revisions followed by more errors, accompanied of course by growing
> public distrust.
>
> Steve

Yes, they really blew it with the Fisher Price Microsoft OS voting
machines. They have no paper trail, poor control of the software and
none of the manufacturers will allow peer review of the software which
is really, really wrong. Our county is on the second set of toy machines
because the first won't even meet the weak specifications. The
neighboring county is on their third set of toy machines because the
first two they bought won't meet the weak specifications.

I don't know why they didn't go with a paper ballot/optical scanner
system. At least that way you have a recountable paper trail.

Steve Pope wrote:
> Dave Smith > wrote:
>
>> I realize that some of your countrymen are under the impression that the
>> US is the only country that has free elections, but I have to wonder why
>> voting is such a hassle there. There have been some posts here and other
>> groups about the hassles involved, like long waits, faulty equipment,
>> people being struck off the lists etc. I have never had any problems
>> voting, and never missed an election.
>
> In my opinion the answer to your question is that Americans
> tend to be a distrusting lot, and are constantly questioning whether
> their local election officials (not to mention national political
> parties) are acting fairly. The reaction to this is an
> increase in process -- changes to election methods, legal
> challenges, and whatnot -- all adding up to a continual chaos
> surrounding voting. This chaos, in turn, breeds more opportunity
> for errors and fraud.

We must have inborn distrust of the process too. We have scrutineers
from the various political parties at each polling station to oversee
the process.

George wrote:
> George Shirley wrote:
>> Dave Smith wrote:
>>> Dimitri wrote:
>>>> Today we participate in an unusual event.
>>>>
>>>> The beginning of an orderly transition of government without guns,
>>>> tanks or civil war.
>>>>
>>>> Not every country can say that.
>>>>
>>>> Please vote and be thankful for the privilege.
>>>
>>> I realize that some of your countrymen are under the impression that
>>> the US is the only country that has free elections, but I have to
>>> wonder why voting is such a hassle there. There have been some posts
>>> here and other groups about the hassles involved, like long waits,
>>> faulty equipment, people being struck off the lists etc. I have never
>>> had any problems voting, and never missed an election. My polling
>>> station has never been more than a 5 minute drive from home and I
>>> have never had to wait more than a few minutes from the time I get
>>> there until I get my ballot.
>>>
>> We have a lot of small voting precincts here in the states too Dave.
>> <VBG>
>
> Like mine, our ward votes in the basketball court of the community
> center. The other two wards vote in the council chamber of the municipal
> building. My guess is there are 600 possible voters in my ward. They set
> up two of the Fisher Price machines so usually the lines are short...

We use the hall/basketball court of our community recreation center. I
think there are about 800 registered voters in our voting precinct but
only about 150 to 200 usually show up, even in 2000 and 2004. Poll
workers there tell me they had exceeded 200 by 0800 this morning. We
have three of the electronic voting machines, don't know the
manufacturer but they work well with a large touch screen that even my
senior citizen eyes can read. We've been using them about ten years IIRC
with no problems that I'm aware of.

I'm hearing stories everywhere I've been today of extra large turnouts
and waits up to an hour in some of the more populated precincts.
Everything orderly so far.

Dave Smith wrote:
> Steve Pope wrote:
>> Dave Smith > wrote:
>>
>>> I realize that some of your countrymen are under the impression that
>>> the US is the only country that has free elections, but I have to
>>> wonder why voting is such a hassle there. There have been some posts
>>> here and other groups about the hassles involved, like long waits,
>>> faulty equipment, people being struck off the lists etc. I have never
>>> had any problems voting, and never missed an election.
>>
>> In my opinion the answer to your question is that Americans
>> tend to be a distrusting lot, and are constantly questioning whether
>> their local election officials (not to mention national political
>> parties) are acting fairly. The reaction to this is an
>> increase in process -- changes to election methods, legal
>> challenges, and whatnot -- all adding up to a continual chaos
>> surrounding voting. This chaos, in turn, breeds more opportunity
>> for errors and fraud.
>
> We must have inborn distrust of the process too. We have scrutineers
> from the various political parties at each polling station to oversee
> the process.
Probably because to many people are to willing to cheat at anything they
do in order to get their way. Watching the national news a little
earlier seems they're having some problems throughout the nation,
generally with special interest groups trying to control the polls.

"Dimitri" > wrote in message
...
> Today we participate in an unusual event.
>
> The beginning of an orderly transition of government without guns, tanks
> or civil war.
>
> Not every country can say that.
>
> Please vote and be thankful for the privilege.

Just voted about an hour ago. Luckily, the line wasn't long at all. I was in
and out in about 10 minutes.

Mary

On Nov 4, 8:12*am, "Dimitri" > wrote:
> ....
> Please vote and be thankful for the privilege.

This morning I did a bit of shopping at a place run by an Armenian
immigrant, then picked up some groceries at the Philipino-operated
market, then dropped by one of my favorite taco trucks for a couple of
tacos and a Jamaica drink. Everywhere I went I saw people wearing "I
Voted" stickers. Finally, to the polling place where it was busy but
efficient. Workers said turnout was heavy. Tonight we're going to an
election night party in Koreatown hosted by a Lebanese-American.
Sarah seems to think "real Americans" are rural whites. I beg to
differ. -aem

On Nov 4, 11:36*am, George Shirley > wrote:
> I'm hearing stories everywhere I've been today of extra large turnouts
> and waits up to an hour in some of the more populated precincts.
> Everything orderly so far.

I live in a high density urban neighborhood near San Jose, Calif., and
I've never experienced the lines or waits that I read about at all.

Karen

"Dave Smith" > wrote in message
...
> Dimitri wrote:
>> Today we participate in an unusual event.
>>
>> The beginning of an orderly transition of government without guns, tanks
>> or civil war.
>>
>> Not every country can say that.
>>
>> Please vote and be thankful for the privilege.
>
> I realize that some of your countrymen are under the impression that the
> US is the only country that has free elections, but I have to wonder why
> voting is such a hassle there. There have been some posts here and other
> groups about the hassles involved, like long waits, faulty equipment,
> people being struck off the lists etc. I have never had any problems
> voting, and never missed an election. My polling station has never been
> more than a 5 minute drive from home and I have never had to wait more
> than a few minutes from the time I get there until I get my ballot.


I think for the most part we (Americans) realize there are many parts of the
world that have free and open elections. We also realize there are many
parts of the world where voting is an exercise in futility as the outcome is
predetermined and/or there is no viable opposition.

We are still a very young country, and for so much of our population the
right to vote was either unlawful or denied in practice. There are many who
simply gave their lives for the rights of others.

Remember we do not have a "No confidence" vote which can reset the
government.Unless there is criminal or unlawful actions in office we're
locked in for 4 years at a crack.

As we transition from a paper driven to a paperless (hahaahaha) society the
methodology as well as the trust of the people in power is in question.

It is very possible this election may simply overwhelm a system designed to
service less than 50% of the eligible electorate. This year the projections
are that 70% of the electorate are expected to vote.

For the past 25 years I was always #1 in line for ALL elections. Since I
moved I am now a permanent absentee voter.

It will be interesting to see the final percentages as compared to prior
years.

Dimitri

On Tue, 04 Nov 2008 11:46:09 -0500, Stan Horwitz >
wrote:

>In article >,
> "Dimitri" > wrote:
>
>> Today we participate in an unusual event.
>>
>> The beginning of an orderly transition of government without guns, tanks or
>> civil war.
>>
>> Not every country can say that.
>>
>> Please vote and be thankful for the privilege.
>
>Well said. I agree.

I voted last week...we have early voting.

Christine, who also lives in a "swing" state.

On Nov 4, 3:21*pm, Christine Dabney > wrote:
> On Tue, 04 Nov 2008 11:46:09 -0500, Stan Horwitz >
> wrote:
>
> >In article >,
> > "Dimitri" > wrote:
>
> >> Today we participate in an unusual event.
>
> >> The beginning of an orderly transition of government without guns, tanks or
> >> civil war.
>
> >> Not every country can say that.
>
> >> Please vote and be thankful for the privilege.
>
> >Well said. I agree.
>
> I voted last week...we have early voting. *
>
> Christine, who also lives in a "swing" state.
==================================

I, too voted last week. Paper ballot, optical scanner. One polling
place open that week for a city of almost 100,000. They were busy but
I didn't have to wait in line and I was there at lunch time! Today DD
and her SO voted at 7:30 am at the biggest polling place in town and
they didn't wait either.
Lynn in Fargo

In article
>,
"mequeenbe.nospam" > wrote:

> Dimitri wrote:
> > Today we participate in an unusual event.
> >
> > The beginning of an orderly transition of government without guns, tanks or
> > civil war.
> >
> > Not every country can say that.
> >
> > Please vote and be thankful for the privilege.
> >
> > Dimitri
>
> i'm going to vote in about 10 minutes.

I voted Wednesday before last.
Avoided the crowds.
--
Peace! Om

"Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them humanity cannot survive." -- Dalai Lama

>
> I'm hearing stories everywhere I've been today of extra large turnouts
> and waits up to an hour in some of the more populated precincts.
> Everything orderly so far.

I vote at approximately the same time each voting day. Usually I'm in the
60's to 80's in voiting (very small rural area). Today I was 190th!!

No wait - good thing because the workers had prepared their lunch in the
kitchen (volunteer fire hall) and it smelled ssoooo good. So I went down
the road to the Amish bulk foods store and bought a bunch of things I
shouldn't have - comfort food for the day.

JonquilJan

Learn something new every day
As long as you are learning, you are living
When you stop learning, you start dying

In article
>,
Dan Abel > wrote:

> I left the house (walking, it's just as fast as driving) at 9:58, got to
> the polling place at 10:02, found a couple of lines (5 minutes earlier
> and I would have been the only voter there) and was out by 10:12. At
> 10:16 I was home again.

I couldn't have recited my own voting experience more accurately,
including the walking. Except I left the house at 10:20. Perhaps we're
lucky. We certainly are with the four minute walk.

leo

Dimitri wrote:

> Today we participate in an unusual event.
>
> The beginning of an orderly transition of government without guns, tanks
> or civil war.
>
> Not every country can say that.
>
> Please vote and be thankful for the privilege.
>
> Dimitri


Been there, done that, got the sticker.

I don't pester people who aren't registered to vote. I'd just as soon
avoid letting people who are *that stupid* weigh in on important
decisions. They don't show up at the polls, my vote counts for that
much more.

"Andy" > wrote in message ...
> Dave Smith said...
>
>> Dimitri wrote:
>>> Today we participate in an unusual event.
>>>
>>> The beginning of an orderly transition of government without guns, tanks
>>> or civil war.
>>>
>>> Not every country can say that.
>>>
>>> Please vote and be thankful for the privilege.
>>
>> I realize that some of your countrymen are under the impression that the
>> US is the only country that has free elections, but I have to wonder why
>> voting is such a hassle there. There have been some posts here and other
>> groups about the hassles involved, like long waits, faulty equipment,
>> people being struck off the lists etc. I have never had any problems
>> voting, and never missed an election. My polling station has never been
>> more than a 5 minute drive from home and I have never had to wait more
>> than a few minutes from the time I get there until I get my ballot.
>
>
> My polling station got it so wrong. This year, although they had 3 voting
> booths there was only one person checking voter registrations, two others
> as election witness/observers and one other to point you to a voting booth
> and activate it. They might as well just've had one booth.
>
> Andy

Ah, good ole PA........I went to my poll at 9:00 a.m and was #486. When
hubby went after work, he was #2060. This is out of approximately 3000
registered voters out of Upper Saucon #3.......and he went around 5:30,
which meant that there were at least 2 more hours to go......ours was
organized chaos, caused mostly by and ineffectual and definitely partisan
judge of elections.......had a pile of pens to sign in, but told the people
'for Republican use only'.....she was really ****ed that there were watchers
at the polls. Last major election, she had her own party's watcher in
tears.........I just went in did my civic duty and promptly told the watcher
I hoped he took note of her little 'pen fiefdom'....most people just ignored
her as those handing out literature were polite (hell, most of them know
each other from years doing the same thing) and the crowd, although long,
were having a general good time. Saw people I haven't seen since the last
general election, compared kids' pictures, had a cup of coffee and rode off
into the daylight. All in all, it took me 45 minutes.

Looks like Obama took PA by the news reports.
-ginny

"George Shirley" > wrote in message
.. .
> Dave Smith wrote:
>> Steve Pope wrote:
>>> Dave Smith > wrote:
>>>
>>>> I realize that some of your countrymen are under the impression that
>>>> the US is the only country that has free elections, but I have to
>>>> wonder why voting is such a hassle there. There have been some posts
>>>> here and other groups about the hassles involved, like long waits,
>>>> faulty equipment, people being struck off the lists etc. I have never
>>>> had any problems voting, and never missed an election.
>>>
>>> In my opinion the answer to your question is that Americans
>>> tend to be a distrusting lot, and are constantly questioning whether
>>> their local election officials (not to mention national political
>>> parties) are acting fairly. The reaction to this is an
>>> increase in process -- changes to election methods, legal
>>> challenges, and whatnot -- all adding up to a continual chaos
>>> surrounding voting. This chaos, in turn, breeds more opportunity
>>> for errors and fraud.
>>
>> We must have inborn distrust of the process too. We have scrutineers from
>> the various political parties at each polling station to oversee the
>> process.
> Probably because to many people are to willing to cheat at anything they
> do in order to get their way. Watching the national news a little earlier
> seems they're having some problems throughout the nation, generally with
> special interest groups trying to control the polls.


In our little corner of the world, there were reports of 'robocalls' giving
false information. Read about it in the NY Dailys, and I know that the same
calls were reported received in SW Philly. Seems a 'non-partisan' group, at
least that's what they say when they call, indicate that due to the large
deluge of voter registrations, voting will be split into two days with the
Republicans winning the toss of the coin and voting on Tuesday, the
Democrats on Wednesday.......

I got a call from the local Bible College asking me if I would vote for the
way Jesus wanted me to......I told her I would have to see His voter
registration card and hear it from Him directly how He voted first. She got
really confused. I LOVE playing with the heads of those who are only
reading a script and have no idea of issues......
-ginny

On Tue, 4 Nov 2008 08:12:28 -0800, "Dimitri" >
wrote:

>Today we participate in an unusual event.
>
>The beginning of an orderly transition of government without guns, tanks or
>civil war.
>
>Not every country can say that.
>
>Please vote and be thankful for the privilege.
>
I voted today and I voted shortly after the polls opened. I was
*very* surprised by the number of people voting at that early hour.


--
I never worry about diets. The only carrots that
interest me are the number of carats in a diamond.

Mae West

On Tue, 04 Nov 2008 11:39:13 -0500, George >
wrote:

>Dimitri wrote:
>> Today we participate in an unusual event.
>>
>> The beginning of an orderly transition of government without guns, tanks
>> or civil war.
>>
>> Not every country can say that.
>>
>> Please vote and be thankful for the privilege.
>>
>> Dimitri
>
>Just did on my way home for lunch.


Braggart!

LOL



--
I never worry about diets. The only carrots that
interest me are the number of carats in a diamond.

Mae West

On Tue, 04 Nov 2008 11:46:09 -0500, Stan Horwitz >
wrote:

>In article >,
> "Dimitri" > wrote:
>
>> Today we participate in an unusual event.
>>
>> The beginning of an orderly transition of government without guns, tanks or
>> civil war.
>>
>> Not every country can say that.
>>
>> Please vote and be thankful for the privilege.
>
>Well said. I agree.

In the last two elections, it wasn't the case here either.


--
I never worry about diets. The only carrots that
interest me are the number of carats in a diamond.

Mae West